Help on way to deal with substance abuse

Thursday, April 18, 2013

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SEATTLE (AP) — Only about 1 in 10 people who need treatment for substance abuse in Washington state are getting that help, but officials believe that could increase dramatically next January when tens of thousands more become eligible for insurance because of the new federal health-care law.

Lack of insurance and the cost of private care get a lot of the blame for nearly half a million Washington residents not getting the addiction help they need.

The health-care overhaul and the expansion of Medicaid it calls for are expected to change that picture for as many as 166,000 people in Washington, according to state and federal health officials.

That would nearly triple the number of people seeking treatment in the state, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data. The analysis compared federal data on the addiction rates in the 50 states among the uninsured, the capacity of treatment programs and provisions of the new health law.

In Washington state, about 59,000 people are currently receiving treatment, according to the federal government. Another 47,000 people with substance abuse issues would be newly eligible for insurance in 2014. And another 119,000 would become eligible if the state expands Medicaid coverage, as expected.

That kind of increase in demand for treatment would create a big challenge for the system, said Jane Beyer, assistant secretary for behavioral health and service integration at the state Department of Social and Health Services.

Beyer is worried, but not panicking.

“It’s a lot of people. No doubt about it,” she said.

Community-based creativity and entrepreneurial efforts by dependency treatment providers have tempered her concern.

For example, rural hospitals are starting to partner with chemical treatment providers to expand the number of places people can seek treatment.

He said his company is looking at expanding, with a focus on reaching people in outlying areas and starting an intensive outpatient program, but right now they usually operate with about 36 out of 60 beds occupied at any time.

Dandala expects that will change dramatically on Jan. 1, when federal law starts requiring mental health and addiction treatment benefits for more people and Medicaid is expanded.

“I think it’s going to hit us like a ton of bricks,” he said.

Washington has 575 certified agencies that provide outpatient and/or inpatient treatment for drug and alcohol dependency. Most of these are private agencies. They are spread across the state, but the majority are in Western Washington.

Dandala and Beyer said a shortage of addiction doctors and psychiatrists will also be a challenge after health-care reform. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants will help fill the gaps in the short term, he said, but more doctors will be needed in the long run.